I took time to go through the pages of “Burn the Script”. At the outset, what stayed with me most is that you’ve written your story, and you’re honest about the biases and battle scars that shaped you. That self-awareness becomes the spine of the book. It isn’t framed as “ten rules to win”, it’s a lived journey that nudges the reader to examine their own script.
I loved how you bring in people, not just ideas. Seema and the sculptor’s “angel in the marble” line reframed growth for me as subtracting the inessential, not just adding achievements. Priya writing her own eulogy quietly resets the conversation from résumé to legacy. Ravi being disarmed by Ananya’s “Papa, why do you always look so serious?” is such a simple, human prompt—and the improv detour is a great reminder that play can restore leadership presence. These vignettes make the philosophy practical and human, I could picture real colleagues in each of them.
The Practicum choice to share the work-in-progress, have people try the exercises, and weave their reflections back in (Shilpa Saini, Manpreet, etc.) gives the book a “field-tested” feel. It’s rare to see that loop closed so intentionally and it shows.
Chapter 2—Crafting a Purposeful Life—is the one I kept returning to. The progression from gratitude → energy alignment → sweet spot (Ikigai) is a simple but powerful ladder. The Gratitude Journal moves gratitude from sentiment to system; the Energy Tracker turns “work smarter” into something schedulable; and the Ikigai map ties love/skill/need/compensation into a practical lens for role-crafting. I also liked the “Crafting a Purposeful Day” micro-loop at the end—three daily prompts you can actually run. For younger professionals who crave something immediately usable, those 1-2-3-4-style guides are gold.
I appreciated that you rooted the narrative in real places and markets—the Bangalore/GCC arc, startups, multicultural teams—so it doesn’t float in abstraction. And the later sweep—happiness, spirituality and earthly desires, human-to-human connection, mental health, and the myth of quick fixes—lands on a theme I align with: success and serenity, not success versus serenity.
Two reflections I’m carrying forward into my role. First, energy beats time. I’ve tried to calendar our way out of overload; your framing nudged me to build energy hygiene into leadership rhythms—protect deep-work windows, time hard conversations for cognitive “up” slots, and stop treating recovery as an afterthought. Second, the “angel in the marble” metaphor is now in my coaching vocabulary. For high achievers who only add (OKRs, projects), the unlock is often removing one misaligned commitment and re-centering on a value.
I’m going to try a few things immediately: a five-minute Monday/Friday loop with my directs (Monday: one energizing task in a peak window and one value to foreground, Friday: one gratitude note naming a person and behaviour, plus one subtractive choice for next week). I’ll pair that with a light “Legacy Letter” exercise at our next senior offsite (a gentler version of Priya’s reflection), and a manager toolkit that adapts three of your exercises for teams: a 30-second gratitude check-in, a quick energy check (what gave/what drained), and a one-page Ikigai canvas for role-shaping.
Two friendly suggestions for a future edition: Firstly, when introducing the H2H connection, a one-page self-diagnostic (“rate your last five interactions on vulnerability, clarity, follow-through”) would be of great help to managers in moving from insight to muscle. Secondly, a short “30-Day Script Reset” appendix that sequences your exercises would give readers a ready scaffold to follow.
The book works because you don’t pretend the trade-offs are clean. You own your contradictions—the corporate monk who can negotiate in a boardroom and still choose presence. That honesty gives the rest of us permission to do the same. My personal takeaway for the next month: run your three-prompt day myself—gratitude, one peak-energy task, one action aligned to values—and ask my team to hold me to it. If it moves the needle, I’ll institutionalize it.
Regards,
Amit Das
Director & CHRO Bennet Coleman Co Ltd
(Times of India group)
*****
Finally, you have a book, which is for individuals who want to take up the journey of self discovery. The Razmataz of corporate world, the black tie events, and glitz of being seen at the recognition platforms and getting awards, Kanwal (KK) helps you discover the purpose of your life. His insights on who am I, what am I doing here? The quintessential dilemma in human mind has now got a practical Guide via this book. Through numerous practical steps this Book helps you to kindle your soul and your purpose of existence. Every human being is the search of purpose and meaning to their lives , the book helps you to take a pause, reflect and guides you to reach there. The journey of discovering purpose of life is extremely well brought out by KK in this book. I exhort all the seekers in life to definitely read this book, which gives you clear day today guideline to reach your purpose of existence on this planet.
What an amazing book you have authored! It’s going to do wonders!
Sanjay Muthal
CEO – ArgoLynx Consulting
